How To Screenshot On Mac: 5 Easiest Ways

Taking screenshot is a common requirement. You may need to take screenshots for several purposes such as for creating tutorials, demos, presentations, etc. For some people, it can be a daily task to take screenshots of the screen for his/her work and progress.

Taking screenshots in Windows is really straight-forward, just press the PrntScrn button and there you go. But it is not same in Mac. And if you are new to Mac, then taking a screenshot of Mac can become a really tricky task as there is no such dedicated button for taking screenshot on Mac. But that doesn’t mean that you can take screenshots on your Mac.

There are several key combinations which enable you to take screenshots on Mac. So, if you are searching for ways to take a screenshot on Mac then this article is just for you. It contains 5 easiest ways to take screenshots on Mac. All these ways are easy to follow.

How to Take screenshot on Mac

Fortunately, the following methods have made is really easy to take screenshots of Mac screen. Also, it enables you to take screenshot not only of the whole screen but you can take screenshots of parts of the screen for different purposes. There are some easy commands using which you can take screenshot on Mac in a few seconds. So, without wasting any more time let’s get to know the easiest ways to take screenshot on Mac

1. Steps to take Screenshot of the Whole screen

This is the most common method people use to take a screenshot on Mac. This method enables you to capture the whole screen. Means, it would capture everything which is on your screen. So, if you want to get the screenshot of your Mac’s whole screen then follow the below steps.

The very first step is to setup your screen. As I said that this method will allow you to capture the whole screen then you need to make sure that our screen contains those programs or anything which you want to include in the screenshot. If there is anything unwanted on the screen then close it. You might want to close unnecessary tabs and programs before taking screenshot on Mac.

After you have successfully set up your Mac’s screen then here comes the main part. Now, all you have to do is to press Command+shift and then tap the number 3 button.

That’s it, the full screenshot will be automatically saved to your desktop.

This is the most effective and easiest method of taking a screenshot on Mac.

2. Copy the Screenshot on Clipboard

This method comes quite handy when you need to take screenshot on Mac and want to edit it further on some photo editing app etc. Unlike the previous method where the screenshot was saved to the desktop, this method will help you to copy the screenshot to the clipboard so that you can paste in anywhere on any app so that you can easily edit it as per your need.

So, to copy the screenshot to clipboard on your Mac, just make sure that the Mac screen only contains those things of wich you want to include in the screenshot.

Now the command to take and copy the screenshot to clipboard on Mac is command+control+shift+3. Means, you need to press these control keys simultaneously to copy the screenshot to the clipboard and then paste it by pressing ctrl+V to any photo editing program to edit the screenshot.

3. Steps to take screen shot of an opened application window

There come many situations when you need to take the screenshot of some particular application which is opened at that time. Like, if you are writing a tutorial then instead of the whole screen, you will require taking the screenshot of that particular opened application. Though you can do the same from the above method and then edit the screenshot just to crop out the unwanted part. But as we are talking about the easiest ways to take screenshot on Mac then this is quick and easier that the previous for this purpose.

So, for taking screenshot of only an application you need to follow a small, easy and quick way. The only thing which you need to do is to press command+shift+4 and then press Space button. It will convert the cursor into a small camera. Now you can drag it to the desired location and then tap the Space button again. The screenshot will immediately be saved to your Mac. Quite easy, right? Told ya!

4. Steps to take screenshot of the desired area

Now, if you want to capture some specific area of your Mac screen then this method will help you out. With the help of this screenshot trick, you can capture a small or large part of the screen of your choice without any hassle.

To take screenshot of the desired area of the screen you need to press ctrl+shift+4. Doing this with convert the cursor into a crosshair reticle. You can simply drag it to cover the desired area which you want to capture. And after you release the button, the screenshot will automatically be saved to your Mac.

5. Take screenshot on Mac using Grab application

There is another method to take screenshot on Mac. If you can’t remember the above combination keys and want a straightforward way to take a screenshot on Mac then Grab utility will surely help you. Grab is an inbuilt OS X utility which makes it easier to capture screenshots on Mac.

First, go to Applications>> Utility>> Grab. After the Grab utility is opened, click on Capture option from the top bar menu items. It will provide you 4 different modes to take screenshots on Mac viz. Selection, Window, Screen and time screen.

Selectionenables you to capture a specific area of the screen, Windowlets you capture the screenshot of an opened application which you clicked, Screenwill allow you to take screenshot of the whole screen and Time screen captures the screenshot of the whole window but after 10 seconds so that you can open any tab or menu which you want to cover in the screenshot.

So friends, these were the 5 Easiest Ways to take screenshot on Mac. All the ways are quick, easy and really helpful. Hope the article helped you. And if you have any doubts or difficulties in the methods then feel free to drop them in the comments.

About the author

Shivani Srivastava

Shivani shrivastava is an active tech blogger. She has graduated from Delhi University. She has contributed a number of great and informative articles to the internet. Apart from blogging she loves music, games, puzzles and reading. Share your views with Shivani in the comments.